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teacher’s guide primary source set
Thanksgiving Throughout history, people have given thanks – sometimes in joyful celebration, often in solemn, even prayerful, ceremony. The United States, over hundreds of years, has come to observe a national holiday for giving thanks, one that has taken many forms and has been observed in different ways
Thanksgiving, 1919. https://www.loc.gov/resource/npcc.00888/
throughout the nation’s history.
Historical Background
Early Thanksgiving Celebrations
Today’s Thanksgiving holiday has roots in a number
of celebrations that occurred centuries ago in different
regions of North America. Native communities had
regularly given thanks for nature’s gifts for centuries
before the arrival of Europeans on the continent. In
May 1541, Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de
Coronado led 1,500 men in a thanksgiving celebration
in what is today the Texas Panhandle. Two decades
later, French Huguenot colonists gave solemn praise
and thanksgiving at a settlement near what is now
Jacksonville, Florida. In August 1607, English colonists
joined Abnaki people along Maine’s Kennebec River
for a harvest feast and prayer meeting. In the spring
of 1610, in what some consider the “first American
Thanksgiving,” colonists in Jamestown, Virginia, held
a thanksgiving prayer service after English supply
ships arrived with much-needed food.
Eleven years later, Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony
celebrated the autumn harvest with a three-day
feast. Governor William Bradford and the colonists
joined the Wampanoag leader they knew as Massasoit
and 90 other Wampanoag to feast on wild turkeys,
duck, geese, venison, lobsters, clams, bass, corn,
green vegetables, and dried fruits. The celebration
included athletic contests and military exercises.
This 1621 harvest celebration is given the distinction
of shaping many of the United States’ Thanksgiving
traditions and fueling many of the popular stories
surrounding Thanksgiving’s history. There are few
firsthand accounts of this feast and no eyewitness
images, but it has been depicted in many different
ways in the centuries since, in paintings, drawings,
statues, stories, and performances. These depictions
can provide helpful insights into the eras in which they
were created, and into the ways in which perceptions
of the holiday’s--and the nation’s--origins have shifted
throughout U.S. history.
Thanksgiving Proclamations
In October 1678, a general court in Boston issued
a proclamation declaring “Thursday, the one and
twentieth day of November next” to be “a day of
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Sarah Josepha (Buell) Hale https://www.loc.gov/ item/2005687170/
fasting and prayer.” More than a century later, in
1789, the president of the newborn United States,
George Washington, proclaimed Thursday, November
26, a day of national thanksgiving and prayer.
Four days later, the Gazette of the United States
published the text of the proclamation. However,
Thanksgiving did not become an annual tradition at
this time. Presidents John Adams and James Madison
also declared national days of thanks, but no other
president did until Abraham Lincoln.
By the beginning of the
Civil War most northern
and mid-western states,
as well as many in the
South, had adopted the
Thanksgiving celebration.
The holiday was vigorously
promoted by magazine
editor Sarah Josepha Buell
Hale, with editorials and
Thanksgiving recipes for
turkey, oysters, potatoes,
cranberries, and pie.
Hale’s September 1863 letter to President Lincoln
helped persuade him to proclaim the last Thursday
of November as a national day of thanksgiving and
praise. All presidents since have issued annual
Thanksgiving holiday proclamations.
Thanksgiving Traditions
Thanksgiving traditions have come and gone
through the years, but one tradition that has long
played a central role in Thanksgiving celebrations is
the enjoyment of a hearty meal, as can be seen in
articles, recipes, and advertisements in magazines
and newspapers throughout the 1800s and 1900s.
Masking was another tradition that was popular for
several decades in cities such as New York, where
on Thanksgiving Day would be seen costumed
“processions of lads and children blowing on tin horns,
beating tin drums and whooping as recklessly as so
Thanksgiving dinner menus, 1901 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ sn85066387/1901-11-24/ed-1/seq-17/
many young savages” and squads of “apparently well
to do men marching in irregular order and conducting
themselves like tramps,” according to one newspaper
of the time. Football, shopping, and parades have
come into prominence in recent years, and it is likely
that new Thanksgiving traditions are being developed
even now.
Thanksgiving Finds a Permanent Home on the
Calendar
In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared
November 23, the next-to-last Thursday of the
month, to be Thanksgiving Day, prompted by requests
from the National Retail Dry Goods Association
to extend the Christmas shopping season by one
week. However, the proclamation applied only to the
District of Columbia and to federal employees. While
governors usually followed the president’s lead with
state proclamations for the same day, in that year
23 states observed Thanksgiving Day on November
23; 23 states celebrated on November 30; and Texas
and Colorado declared both Thursdays to be holidays.
Football coaches scrambled to reschedule games
set for November 30, and people weren’t sure when
to start their holiday shopping. After two years of
confusion and complaint, President Roosevelt signed
legislation establishing Thanksgiving Day as the fourth
Thursday in November, where it remains to this day.
loc.gov/teachers
Suggestions for Teachers
Students might examine two or more Thanksgiving-related primary sources that include depictions of food. Ask
them to create a list of foods they see. Why do students think those foods were bought, advertised, or served
at Thanksgiving? Which of these foods are the same or different than the food at their own family celebrations?
(Students may make the same comparisons to the past using images of school children from the set.)
Distribute or project The First Thanksgiving 1621 and facilitate an analysis, selecting questions from the Teacher’s
Guide: Analyzing Photographs and Prints to focus and deepen students’ thinking. Ask students to jot down what
year, roughly, they think the events depicted in this image took place, and what clues they see in the picture
to guide their answers. Then ask them to jot down what year they think the image was created, and why.
Present students with the image’s bibliographic information, ask them to focus on the title and creation date,
and compare this information to their hypotheses. Focus on the 300-year gap between the year the image was
created and the events it depicts; ask students to explain whether or not the painting should be considered an
accurate source of information about Thanksgiving in 1621, and why.
Ask students to turn and talk about what they know about the ways in which Thanksgiving is celebrated today.
Record answers or direct students to keep notes. Distribute or project The First Thanksgiving 1621 and allow
students time to examine it. Ask them to describe what they see. Encourage close observation by focusing on
one quadrant of the image at a time. If needed, prompt students to talk about food, clothing, etc. Ask them what
they think is happening, responding with “Tell me what you see that makes you say that.” Support students in
comparing what they know about Thanksgiving today to how the painting depicts one Thanksgiving celebration
of long ago, creating a list for “Past” and one for “Present.”
Allow time for students to read and analyze Sarah Hale’s letter to Abraham Lincoln. Ask them to write a diary
entry as if they were Sarah Hale, explaining their efforts to approach and influence Lincoln to declare a national
day of thanks.
Ask students to compare Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation with George Washington’s to explore the purpose
and characteristics of each.
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Additional Resources
Primary Sources and the Thanksgiving Holiday
http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2013/11/blog-roundup-primary-sources-and-the-thanksgiving-holiday/
Topics in Chronicling America – Thanksgiving
http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/thanksgiving.html
Unmasking a Thanksgiving Tradition Through Photos and Newspapers
http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2015/11/unmasking-a-thanksgiving-tradition-through-photos-and-
newspapers/
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Primary Sources with Citations
Massachusetts General Court. At a General Court held at Boston in New England the second
day of October 1678. [A proclamation for a day of fasting and prayer November 21, 1678].
Cambridge, 1678. Broadside. From Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections
Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/rbpe.03301000/
“By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation.” Gazette of the
United-States. (New-York [N.Y.]), 07 Oct. 1789. Chronicling America: Historic American
Newspapers. From Library of Congress.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030483/1789-10-07/ed-1/seq-1/
“To stuff and roast a Turkey, or Fowl.” Simmons, Amelia. American cookery, or, The art of
dressing viands, fish, poultry, and vegetables…. Hartford: Printed by Hudson & Goodwin
for the Author, 1796. Book. From Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections
Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/96126967/
N. Currier. Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth 11th Dec. 1620. [New York, between 1838
and 1856]. Lithograph. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
https://www.loc.gov/item/95503144/
Waud, Alfred R., artist. Thanksgiving in camp sketched Thursday 28th 1861. [1861].
Drawing. From Library of Congress, Morgan Collection of Civil War Drawings.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2004660226/
Sarah J. Hale to Abraham Lincoln, Monday, September 28, 1863 (Thanksgiving). From
Library of Congress, The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mal&fileName=mal1/266/2669900/
malpage.db&recNum=0
United States. The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America by Authority
of Congress. 3 October 1863. Pages 735-736. From Library of Congress, A Century of
Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=013/llsl013.db&recNum=764
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Rhead, Louis, artist. Harper’s Bazaar--Thanksgiving 1894 / Louis J. Rhead. [New York,
1894]. Periodical illustration. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
https://www.loc.gov/item/93511351/
Johnston, Frances Benjamin, photographer. “Thanksgiving Day lesson at Whittier.” [1899
or 1900]. Photograph. From Library of Congress, Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection.
https://www.loc.gov/item/97507246/
The Saint Paul Globe. “Thanksgiving An Inspiration Peculiar to the Nation.” Nov. 22, 1903.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90059523/1903-11-22/ed-1/seq-12/
Glackens, L. M., artist. Puck Thanksgiving 1903 / L.M. Glackens. N.Y.: J. Ottmann Lith. Co.,
Puck Bldg, 1903. Illustration. From Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
https://www.loc.gov/item/2010652321/
Bain News Service, publisher. “School children’s Thanksgiving Games, 11/27/11.” Photograph.
From Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection.
https://www.loc.gov/item/ggb2004010001/
The Princeton union. (Princeton, Minn.), Nov. 26, 1914. Chronicling America: Historic
American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83016758/1914-11-26/ed-1/seq-7/
Bain News Service, publisher. Thanksgiving Maskers. [between and Ca. 1915, ca. 1910]
Image. From Library of Congress, George Grantham Bain Collection.
https://www.loc.gov/item/ggb2004010002/
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“Thanksgiving, 1919.” 1919. Photograph. From Library of Congress, National Photo Company
Collection. https://www.loc.gov/item/npc2007000835/
El Nuevo mexicano. “Programa escolar de Dia de Gracias en Maxwell, NM.” Dec. 2, 1920.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn94056869/1920-12-02/ed-1/seq-4/
Ferris, Jean Leon Gerome, artist. The first Thanksgiving 1621 / J.L.G. Ferris. Cleveland,
Ohio: The Foundation Press, Inc, ca. 1932. Image. From Library of Congress, Prints and
Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2001699850/
Parks, Gordon, photographer. Washington, D.C. “Dr. Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard
University, serving portions of Thanksgiving turkey to members of his family.” Nov. 1942.
Photograph. From Library of Congress, Farm Security Administration - Office of War
Information Photograph Collection. https://www.loc.gov/resource/fsa.8d10908/